Michael - Filmmakers

Michael: Filmmakers

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NORA EPHRON (Director, Producer, Co-Writer) returns to comedy with the divine intervention of Michael.

After becoming one of the industry's most respected screenwriters, Ephron turned to directing and quickly proved herself with the phenomenally successful romantic comedy Sleepless In Seattle, starring Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks.

Ephron has received three Academy Award nominations for Best Original screenplay: for Sleepless In Seattle (with David Ward and Jeff Arch); for the hit romantic comedy When Harry Met Sally; and for the drama Silkwood (co-written with Alice Arlen). Her other screenwriting credits include Heartburn, which she adapted from her best-selling novel of the same name; Cookie (also with Arlen); My Blue Heaven; This Is My Life and Mixed Nuts (both co-written with her sister Delia Ephron.)

Ephron began writing for movies after years as one of the country's best known journalists. She began as a newspaper reporter for the New York Post and became a magazine writer for Esquire, The New York Times Magazine and New York Magazine, among others. Two collections of her essays, Crazy Salad and Scribble, Scribble, were bestsellers.

Most recently, she directed Mixed Nuts, starring Steve Martin. She made her directorial debut in 1992 with This Is My Life, starring Julie Kavner. Ephron is married to journalist Nicholas Pileggi.

SEAN DANIEL (Producer) is a partner with Jim Jacks in Alphaville Productions which, in the last four years, has produced six diverse motion pictures: Tombstone, Dazed and Confused, Hard Target, CB4, Heart and Soul, American Me and Mallrats.

Daniel began his career with Universal Pictures as an assistant, and within two years was promoted to vice president of production. From 1984 to 1988, he was president of production for the motion picture group. His projects at Universal included National Lampoon's Animal House, Coal Miner's Daughter, Missing and Fast Times At Ridgemont High. Among the many features filmed under his supervision as production president were Brazil, Sea of Love, Field of Dreams, Do The Right Thing and Gorillas In The Mist.

In 1989, Daniel served as president of production for Geffen Films. In 1990 he started his own production company at Universal Studios, where he is now headquartered.

JIM JACKS (Producer) formed Alphaville with Sean Daniel in 1992, and the two subsequently produced Dazed and Confused, Hard Target, Tombstone, CB4, Heart and Souls and Mallrats.

Jacks was the executive producer of the Coen Brothers' hit comedy Raising Arizona, and later became vice president of acquisitions for Universal Pictures. During his five years in this capacity (he ultimately became senior vice president of production) he was involved in such films as Field of Dreams, Do The Right Thing, Darkman, Tremors, Jungle Fever, American Me, and People Under The Stairs.

Jacks began his career in the entertainment industry as a screenwriter. Over three years, he wrote seven screenplays, four of which were optioned.

DELIA EPHRON (Co-Writer, Executive Producer) previously collaborated with her sister Nora Ephron on a number of films including Sleepless In Seattle, on which she served as associate producer.

Hanging Up, her debut novel published last year, was greeted with rave reviews. The New York Times Book Review wrote: Hanging Up is honest and deeply felt, and Ms. Ephron's comic timing is flawless." Newsweek magazine called Ephron's foray into adult fiction "a terrific debut." TriStar Pictures has optioned the novel for Nora Ephron to direct. The two sisters will write the screenplay.

Delia Ephron has written two non-fiction best sellers, How To Eat Like a Child and Teenage Romance or How To Die of Embarrassment. She is also the author of Funny Sauce and Do I Have To Say Hello?; and has written two children's books, My Life (and Nobody Else's) and The Girl Who Changed the World.
Like all of her Michael co-writers, Delia Ephron is also a successful journalist. Among other publications, her work has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The New York Times Book Review, New York Magazine, Esquire and Ladies Home Journal.

Other film credits include This Is My Life, serving as co-writer, and Mixed Nuts, which she co-wrote and executive produced.

PETE DEXTER (Co-writer) collaborated with journalist Jim Quinlan on the original screenplay of Michael.

A noted author, Dexter's first novel, God's Pocket, was published in 1983. His second novel, Deadwood, was hailed by critics as one of the best westerns ever written, and served as one of the sources for the film Wild Bill, which was produced by Richard and Lili Fini Zanuck.

Dexter later adapted his novel, Paris Trout (winner of the National Book Award), into an acclaimed film for cable television starring Dennis Hopper, Barbara Hershey and Ed Harris. His subsequent novel, Brotherly Love, is set in Philadelphia where Dexter worked for ten years at the Daily News. His fifth novel, The Paperboy, was published by Random House.

Dexter wrote the spring 1996 release Mullholland Falls. His initial screenwriting effort was the critically acclaimed film, Rush.

Dexter received a B.A. from the University of South Dakota before pursuing a career as a journalist. A newspaper writer for over 15 years, he writes a weekly syndicated column and has also written regularly for major magazines, including Esquire and Playboy.

JIM QUINLAN (Co-writer) collaborated with writer Pete Dexter on the original screenplay of Michael.

Quinlan began his journalism career at The Palm Beach Post in 1970 where he ultimately became assistant managing editor. In the mid-70's, he took a job at The National Enquirer and covered everything from the occult and ghost stories to Elvis getting fat. After working at The Enquirer for a year, he moved to Philadelphia to work at the Daily News with his good friend Pete Dexter. It was at this time that the two started to talk about writing a screenplay based on some of Jim's experiences at The Enquirer.

In 1980, Quinlan moved back to Chicago where he worked at The Chicago Sun Times as a general reporter. He now lives in Florida and has just finished his second screenplay.

Quinlan received a B.S. from Loyola University in Chicago, and was a high school teacher before becoming a journalist.

JONATHAN D. KRANE (Executive Producer) has produced thirty films, including the Look Who's Talking trilogy, Blind Date, Micki & Maude, The Man Who Loved Women, Trail of the Pink Panther, Curse of the Pink Panther, Boris and Natasha, That's Life, Sandra Bernhard's Without You I'm Nothing, and Keith Gordon's Chocolate War.

Most recently, Krane was executive producer of Phenomenon, starring John Travolta, Robert Duvall, Forest Whitaker and Kyra Sedgwick. He also produced Point Of Betrayal, a feature which he also wrote.

A prominent manager, Krane has represented over 150 popular actors and directors, including John Travolta. He owned and was Chairman/CEO of MCEG, which was a publicly held production, distribution and talent management studio located in eight countries. MCEG owned six companies, including Virgin Vision, the film division of Virgin Records.

Prior to beginning his career as a producer, Krane was an international lawyer in Los Angeles. A graduate of Yale Law School, Krane is presently Chairman and CEO of the Jonathan Krane Group, through which he develops, packages, finances and produces films and manages talent.

G. MAC BROWN (Co-Producer) has, in a few short years, become one of the major forces in East Coast film production.

He began his career as production manager at age twenty-five on the horror films Amityville: The Possession and Amityville 3-D. From 1982 to 1986, he served as production manager on several studio pictures, including Jumpin' Jack Flash, Miracles, Who's That Girl?, Baby Boom, and The Pick-Up Artist.

Subsequently Brown joined Germany's leading film group, Neue Constantin Film, and served as line producer for Doris Dorrie's Me and Him and Ulli Edel's Last Exit to Brooklyn.

Returning to mainstream cinema, he co-produced She-Devil and served as executive producer on Once Around. He produced Urban Anxiety for Propaganda Films/Fox TV, and has since produced: Scent of a Woman (associate producer), To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything Julie Newmar (co-producer), With Honors (co-producer), The Cowboy Way (executive producer), Flesh and Bone (co-producer), and Light Sleeper (co-producer).

JOHN LINDLEY (Director of Photography) is one of the film industry's most esteemed cinematographers, having photographed the highly acclaimed and beautifully shot Field of Dreams.

He has worked on five films with director Joseph Ruben: Money Train, The Good Son, Sleeping With the Enemy, True Believer and The Stepfather. Among Lindley's other credits are Father of the Bride, Home of the Brave, The Serpent and the Rainbow and Sneakers.

After completing his training at New York University Film School, Lindley began his career working in television. His credits included the series "Nurse" and the television films "Gentleman Bandit," "An Invasion of Privacy" "Badge of the Assassin," "Rockabye," "L.B.J.: The Early Years," and "Poor Little Rich Girl." Lindley also shot two of the documentaries in Peter Davis' acclaimed PBS series "Middletown Revisited," and filmed a number of rock videos, including the Talking Heads' "Road to Nowhere."

DAN DAVIS (Production Designer) worked in New York City as an architect before embarking on a career in the movie business. His first project as an art director was on the 1985 film, Follow that Bird. Other credits include Moonstruck, Cocktail, Reversal of Fortune, The Freshman, Of Mice and Men, Regarding Henry, Searching for Bobby Fisher, and Nobody's Fool.

As a production designer, he has lent his talents to The Ref, A Pyromaniac's Love Story, Eddie, and Beautiful Girls. Davis is a graduate of the Architecture Association in England.

ELIZABETH McBRIDE (Costume Designer) was nominated for an Academy Award for her exceptional work as costume designer on Driving Miss Daisy.

One of the industry's most respected professionals, McBride's long list of credits includes Thelma and Louise, Fried Green Tomatoes, The Shawshank Redemption, Tender Mercies, True Stories, and Flesh and Bone.

GERALDINE PERONI (Editor) made her debut as an editor on Robert Altman's film, Vincent and Theo. Her continued collaboration with Altman includes The Player, for which she received an Academy Award nomination, Short Cuts, Ready to Wear, and most recently Kansas City.

Other film credits include Tom Dicillo's Johnny Suede, and Shirley Sun's Iron and Silk. Previously, Peroni edited short films and worked as an assistant editor on numerous films, including Altman's O.C. and Stiggs and Martin Scorsese's The Last Temptation of Christ and New York Stories.

RANDY NEWMAN (Composer) is one of the film industry's most talented and prolific composers. For over two decades, through eleven albums and eight film scores, Newman has delivered an extraordinary succession of hits.

The Grammy Award-winning composer, best know for his clever and ironic lyrics on hit songs like "Short People" and "I Love L.A.," is a musical composition graduate from UCLA. He began his professional career at 17, when he took a job as a writer with a Los Angeles music publishing company. Born into a quintessential musical family both his uncles, Alfred and Lionel, were legendary film composers this seemed a natural path for Newman to follow.

In 1982, Newman turned his attention to motion pictures, and his music for Ragtime garnered an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Score as well as Best Original Song for "One More Hour." He followed up with a Grammy Award and a second Oscar nomination for instrumentals in The Natural, starring

Robert Redford. Newman went on to create notable scores the films, Parenthood, Avalon, Awakenings, Maverick, The Paper, and Toy Story, receiving a total of 8 Oscar nominations.

Last year, Newman wrote the book, music and lyrics for his musical comedy entitled "Faust." The play was a comic twist of Goethe's famous legend told in quintessential Newman fashion. To coincide with the premiere of the show, Newman released the highly acclaimed "Faust" album, which features vocal performances by Elton John, James Taylor, Don Henley, Linda Ronstadt, Bonnie Raitt and Newman himself as the Devil.

His next feature project is the Turner Pictures animated film, Cats Don't Dance.

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